This invention relates generally to female undergarments, and has particular reference to an improved brassiere for a woman who has had a mastectomy operation.
Through the years a considerable amount of prior art has been developed in the field of undergarments, and particularly brassieres, for women who have had one or both breasts removed by surgery. In most instances, it has been the objective of the designers to provide a garment that offers comfort and peace of mind to the wearer and, at the same time, gives a natural appearance under all conditions of activity.
Unfortunately, some of the prior art brassieres have been too uncomfortable to wear after surgery because of wires, relatively stiff seams or the like. Others, while more comfortable, have not felt natural to the wearer and sometimes have not presented a natural appearance. Another problem that has been encountered is that some mastectomy brassieres tend to slide or shift position unnaturally during activities such as sports or dancing. Finally, some mastectomy brassieres that have a number of very good features are so expensively constructed that the average woman cannot afford to buy them.
Some examples of the prior art garments referred to above, developed in a preliminary search, are U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ 3,301,260 3,619,819 3,304,558 3,701,168 3,348,241 3,950,792 3,517,671 4,023,575 3,568,681 4,071,914 ______________________________________
Of the above listed patents, Freedman U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,671 and Nixon U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,575 are believed to be the closest to the present invention. The Freedman patent is directed to a novel pocket structure for receiving an artificial bust form in a brassiere that is otherwise conventional. The pocket includes a securing flap that is located and arranged so that the flap and adjacent brassiere structure would be likely to cause discomfort to sensitive tissues following surgery.
The Nixon patent is directed to a prosthesis or bust form for use in a conventional brassiere. The prosthesis directly contacts the wearer and unlike the present invention the brassiere does not include a pocket enclosure in which the prosthesis is received.
As will be described in more detail hereinafter, the present invention also contemplates an artificial bust form wherein the filling is a granular material. The two Mann Pat. Nos. 3,304,558 and 3,619,819 listed above, both disclose bust forms in which the filling includes granular material in addition to other materials.